D3 Players getting looks for 2014 NFL Draft

[FisherFan1984]

I am looking to see what players have a chance at making a camp this year? Also, Will Cartel Brooks (Heidelbeg), Ocktavious McKoy (W. Conn) THIS YEAR and Dennis Thurgood from Wisconsin Euw-Claire get picked up in the next for years ?

Will someone pick up Octavious McKoy?

[Kira & Jaxon's Dad]

I think Cartel Brooks has at least one year left of eligibility.

[K-Mack]

This is the worst year I can remember. I usually go through the NFLDraftScout database, which usually has a record of anyone who a scout has written a report on. There was just one kid from Minn.-Morris in there ... I remember years when there were dozens of D-III names.

Not saying that's end-all be-all, but I'm not hearing any buzz.

[ExTartanPlayer]

This is the worst year I can remember. I usually go through the NFLDraftScout database, which usually has a record of anyone who a scout has written a report on. There was just one kid from Minn.-Morris in there ... I remember years when there were dozens of D-III names.

Not saying that's end-all be-all, but I'm not hearing any buzz.

I think it might be that a couple of the best D3 guys (or at least the D3 guys with the best shot at being fringe-future-pros) are all underclassmen, since no D3 kid in his right mind is leaving school early.  But I think Wesley's Steve Koudossou, and perhaps Cartel Brooks, may eventually at least get to a rookie minicap if they want to.  Koudoussou has been an impact deep threat his whole career and might draw some interest as a returner.

I don't know enough about OL's around the nation to know if anyone has a chance, but occasionally a small-school lineman creeps onto NFL radar, usually a really big kid who slipped through the cracks or was a bit slow to develop, but came on later in college.  And then there was this DL from Gallaudet, who seems to have a little buzz, although I don't know how seriously to take that last site:

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/bruce-feldman/24250340/gallaudets-taalat-hopeful-storybook-journey-leads-him-to-nfl
http://nfldraftdiamonds.com/diamond-in-the-rough-adham-talaat-gallaudet/

[hazzben]

There's been some buzz around Seth Mathis from Bethel.

He got invited to one of the official regional combines attended by team scouts. The invite isn't a big deal, a good number of kids get invited. But he had a solid day and sounds like there was good interest afterwards.

Measured well - 6'2" and in the 240's.
Ran well - 4.71 electronic 40
Did very well in agility drills. Several of his times would have placed him in the top 10 for an ILB at the 'official' combine.
Benched 225 25 times.

He had a pretty strong day from what I heard. The biggest was his solid 40 time, which is really his weakest testing component. It remains to be seen if he'll get drafted, offered a FA deal or have to settle for a tryout. I think a tryout is all but a forgone conclusion. Some team will invite him to mini-camp. Obviously a FA or late round selection would be much more ideal. I think FA selection is probably the most realistic he can hope for. If he can land with a team, I think he's got an outside shot. He's got the size and strength to be a pro and he's incredibly instinctive at LB.

Side Note: Mathis and a number of other small college MN and Dakotas players were at the UofMN pro day. They got really screwed over by Coach Kill, et. al. They only let the small school guys run the 40 and excluded them from taking part in any other drills (With the exception of the UST fullback, whose uncle is the GM for the Seahawks - never hurts to have some connections).

[ExTartanPlayer]

Side Note: Mathis and a number of other small college MN and Dakotas players were at the UofMN pro day. They got really screwed over by Coach Kill, et. al. They only let the small school guys run the 40 and excluded them from taking part in any other drills.

This seems a little weird.  Why bother letting them show up at all?  Was it made clear to the players beforehand?  If you weren't going to let them do anything but run the 40, seems like the least you could do would be tell them ahead of time, so they could figure out if another school's pro day (or maybe a private workout) would offer better exposure than getting to show up and just run a 40.

[hazzben]

Side Note: Mathis and a number of other small college MN and Dakotas players were at the UofMN pro day. They got really screwed over by Coach Kill, et. al. They only let the small school guys run the 40 and excluded them from taking part in any other drills.

This seems a little weird.  Why bother letting them show up at all?  Was it made clear to the players beforehand?  If you weren't going to let them do anything but run the 40, seems like the least you could do would be tell them ahead of time, so they could figure out if another school's pro day (or maybe a private workout) would offer better exposure than getting to show up and just run a 40.

From what I understand it was a total surprise to the players. And a major lost opportunity.

[ExTartanPlayer]

Side Note: Mathis and a number of other small college MN and Dakotas players were at the UofMN pro day. They got really screwed over by Coach Kill, et. al. They only let the small school guys run the 40 and excluded them from taking part in any other drills.

This seems a little weird.  Why bother letting them show up at all?  Was it made clear to the players beforehand?  If you weren't going to let them do anything but run the 40, seems like the least you could do would be tell them ahead of time, so they could figure out if another school's pro day (or maybe a private workout) would offer better exposure than getting to show up and just run a 40.

From what I understand it was a total surprise to the players. And a major lost opportunity.

Just seems weird.  If you don't want'em there, don't invite them at all, right?

[HSCTiger fan]

Will Ferrell of Hampden Sydney participated in a pro day at Richmond University recently. He benched 225 30 times!  We all have our fingers crossed for Will. You can read more about his work out here:http://hscathletics.com/sports/fball/2013-14/releases/20140319hlkrzp

[wally_wabash]

Wabash LB Nate Scola worked out at an NFL regional combine in March (I think it was March anyway).  Crappy to hear that those small school kids got big-leagued at Minnesota, but there are other avenues available for players to get eyeballs on them. 

[ExTartanPlayer]

Will Ferrell of Hampden Sydney participated in a pro day at Richmond University recently. He benched 225 30 times!  We all have our fingers crossed for Will. You can read more about his work out here: http://hscathletics.com/sports/fball/2013-14/releases/20140319hlkrzp

With all due respect, the 225-pound bench press is probably the test that, IMO, correlates the least with pro football success (and is taken the least seriously by scouts and talent evaluators). 

30 reps is terrific; it takes a very strong kid to do that, no doubt.  With that said, I benched 225 for 22 reps as a senior & half a dozen guys on my team could go over 20, numbers which overlap with the bottom-half prospects at the combine, and nobody was drafting any of us. 

I view the bench press as more of a "negative indicator" than a positive one; if a lineman/linebacker shows up at the combine and can't do at least 20 reps with 225, he probably doesn't have the strength to hold up in the league.  But whether a prospect can do 22, 27, or 35 really doesn't mean much to me beyond illustrating that he possesses some basic standard of upper-body strength.

Doing 30 reps is a good sign because it means he was on par with or better than everyone else there, not so much something that'd get him noticed on its own, IMO.  I think his performance in the 40 and any other drills would matter a lot more.  Unfortunately, those "other drills" are often harder to quantify.  The scouts at a Pro Day aren't really looking for a number so much as a sizable frame and footwork that looks like a guy who could play in the big leagues.

[HSCTiger fan]

Will Ferrell of Hampden Sydney participated in a pro day at Richmond University recently. He benched 225 30 times!  We all have our fingers crossed for Will. You can read more about his work out here: http://hscathletics.com/sports/fball/2013-14/releases/20140319hlkrzp

With all due respect, the 225-pound bench press is probably the test that, IMO, correlates the least with pro football success (and is taken the least seriously by scouts and talent evaluators). 

30 reps is terrific; it takes a very strong kid to do that, no doubt.  With that said, I benched 225 for 22 reps as a senior & half a dozen guys on my team could go over 20, numbers which overlap with the bottom-half prospects at the combine, and nobody was drafting any of us. 

I view the bench press as more of a "negative indicator" than a positive one; if a lineman/linebacker shows up at the combine and can't do at least 20 reps with 225, he probably doesn't have the strength to hold up in the league.  But whether a prospect can do 22, 27, or 35 really doesn't mean much to me beyond illustrating that he possesses some basic standard of upper-body strength.

Doing 30 reps is a good sign because it means he was on par with or better than everyone else there, not so much something that'd get him noticed on its own, IMO.  I think his performance in the 40 and any other drills would matter a lot more.  Unfortunately, those "other drills" are often harder to quantify.  The scouts at a Pro Day aren't really looking for a number so much as a sizable frame and footwork that looks like a guy who could play in the big leagues.

Will's other combine results stack up very well compared to the top 15 guards listed on ESPN - http://espn.go.com/nfl/draft/combine/_/id/47.

His 40 time of 5.17 is 4th against the top 15, bench of 30 reps ties him for first and his 3 cone drill would be 8th best against the Top 15.

I don't know what the scouts look for but I know that they have looked at Will.

[Pat Coleman]

Ferrell's 40 time of 5.32 doesn't measure up quite as well. They don't just look at one time.

http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=95401&draftyear=2014&genpos=OG

[HSCTiger fan]

Ferrell's 40 time of 5.32 doesn't measure up quite as well. They don't just look at one time.

http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=95401&draftyear=2014&genpos=OG

Ok. If you use 5.32 he would rank 9th against the ESPN top 15. Most of the prospects from D3 don't measure up quite as well. But I think in Will's case his pro day results measure up very well. We are all pulling for him.

By the way, the website you referenced had him rated as the 87th best guard prospect. That's the highest ranked D3 guard they have listed. 

[Pat Coleman]

I'm not saying he's bad or anything -- but you know they won't draft nearly as many guards as that.